News

Vail Health and Starting Hearts Renew Partnership

Vail, CO—Vail Health and Starting Hearts have renewed their strategic partnership agreement for an additional two years to further efforts in making Eagle County the safest place in America to experience sudden cardiac arrest. This partnership has been instrumental in improving outcomes for sudden cardiac arrest victims in Eagle County through the education of thousands of residents in CPR and defibrillator use, as well as a significant increase in the number of public access defibrillators throughout the county.

“Vail Health shares in Starting Hearts’ mission to save lives,” said Vail Health President and CEO Doris Kirchner. “We’ve made incredible progress towards improving outcomes for sudden cardiac arrest victims in Eagle County, but our work is not done yet. In the next two years, we will place an additional 36 public access defibrillators in Eagle County and train thousands of community members to become first responders.”

In addition, funds will directly support the implementation of the Neighbor Saver Program, which uses the PulsePoint app to notify citizen first responders through a community-wide response system that also coordinates with 9-1-1 dispatch. Vail Health will also continue to support Starting Hearts’ “All You Need is Heart” event. Vail Health is a presenting sponsor of the event and also sends physicians, clinical staff and volunteers to help provide valuable screenings and education.

“We are so grateful to Vail Health for the support and close cooperation with us in making our home one of the safest in the nation to suffer a cardiac arrest,” stated Lynn Blake, founder of Starting Hearts and a sudden cardiac arrest survivor. “In the past two years, we have worked side by side to increase awareness, teach our entire school population in lifesaving and leadership techniques, greatly increase the number of available defibrillators throughout the communities we serve, and activate citizen responders to provide early care when needed.”

Since the partnership was initiated in 2016, Vail Health has helped Starting Hearts place 46 new defibrillators, bringing the county’s total to more than 400, one of the highest per capita rates in the nation.

“We owe it to our citizens and visitors to do everything in our power to save precious lives, and the wonderful support from Vail Health will greatly enhance our ability to deliver on this mission,” said Blake.